1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a marine vessel steering device and a marine vessel including the same.
2. Description of Related Art
An outboard motor is an example of a propulsion device for a marine vessel, and generally includes a motor and a propeller to be driven by the motor. The outboard motor is attached to the stern in a state capable of turning in the left-right direction. To control the turning angle of the outboard motor, the marine vessel is equipped with a turning mechanism. The turning mechanism turns the outboard motor according to an operation of a steering wheel performed by a steering operator.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0089661 A1 discloses an arrangement in which operations of a turning actuator are controlled by an ECU (electronic control unit) according to an output of a rotation angle sensor which detects a rotation angle of the steering wheel. In this arrangement, the steering wheel and the turning mechanism are not mechanically coupled, and the outboard motor is turned exclusively by electric control. Therefore, the steering angle of the steering wheel and the turning angle of the outboard motor may not be in phase with each other. In other words, when the steering wheel is rotated in a state in which the power supply of the system is cut off, a phase shift occurs between the steering angle and the turning angle. Therefore, in this prior art, when the internal combustion of the outboard motor is started, a phase shift between the steering angle and the turning angle is investigated. Then, in a case in which the phase shift is found, the outboard motor is automatically turned by the turning actuator so as to eliminate the phase shift when the steering wheel is operated.